Top 7 Promotional Music Gimmicks -- Both Used & Unused

One of the most interesting things in the music business is how managers and record companies promote and market their artists. Sometimes they do a great job, and other times they fail.

When they do fail, they're like that hickey you got three weeks ago -- still there. But, like a hickey, people eventually forget about it. Here are some of the most memorable gimmicks that have already been done:

7. Garth Brooks appears as Chris Gaines to promote a movie about the fictional character...Chris Gaines: In 1999, Garth Brooks decided to make an alter ego for a movie he was going to star in called The Lamb, about a fictional alt-rocker from Australia named Chris Gaines. Brooks released an album as the character, a sordid "pre-soundtrack." However, people didn't really get the whole Chris Gaines persona. Therefore, the movie was never made and Garth went back to being Garth.

6. The Newsboys release Take Me To Your Leader at Space Center Houston: Once upon a time in Webster, Christian rockers the Newsboys decided to have a release party at Space Center Houston for their now-classic 1996 album Take Me to Your Leader. The event ended up being a first of sorts for Space Center Houston: It was the first-ever live satellite concert to actually originate from the space-themed amusement park.

It was broadcast to many satellite locations (such as retail outlets) where listening parties were taking place. It was a very fitting place because, if you look at the album and even some of the videos, there is a very Buck Rogers-like theme.

5. Madonna combines tickets to her upcoming tour with her latest album, MDNA: Want to guarantee your new album is going to at least go platinum? Sell a "ticket bundle" that includes concert tickets with the purchase of said new album.

Though Madonna's MDNA debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Dance Albums charts earlier this year, the next week it experienced an 86.7 percent sales drop. Why? Because the album sales were greatly helped by the ticket pairing. The tickets to her show were selling out, but people only needed to buy their tickets once (or could afford to).